The 2020 Atlantic Basin tropical season has gotten off to a very active start and two systems are likely to have a high impact on the Gulf of Mexico by the early and middle parts of next week. One system is likely to cross over or right near the Yucatan Peninsula region of Mexico in the near-term and then push over the western part of the Gulf of Mexico and head towards the Texas/Louisiana border region. A second system is likely headed near or over the northern Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico, Haiti/Dominican Republic, and Cuba in the near-term and then perhaps through the Florida Straits before entering the Gulf of Mexico by early next week. Both of these systems are likely to intensify into named tropical storms status – one would be “Laura” and the other “Marco” – and perhaps even to hurricane status before possible landfalls next week as high sea surface temperatures will aid in further intensification.
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The 2020 Atlantic Basin tropical season has gotten off to a very busy start and a parade of systems is going to keep it busy right through the remainder of August. There are now two tropical depressions in the Atlantic Basin which are likely to reach tropical storm status in coming days with the Gulf of Mexico the likely high impact zone by the early or middle of next week. A third tropical wave has reached the west coast of Africa and there is yet another wave situated over the central part of Africa. A “teleconnection” index known as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) which tracks an eastward-moving tropical disturbance supports the idea for increased tropical activity over the next couple of week. In addition, the latter part of August is a time of year when tropical activity tends to ramp up as sea surface temperatures climb towards their peak supporting the formation and intensification of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Basin.
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The overall weather pattern will remain very unsettled in parts of the Mid-Atlantic region right though the upcoming weekend with the threat for more torrential downpours and localized flash flooding; especially, south of the PA/MD border. The combination of an extremely humid air mass, a stalled out frontal boundary zone, and multiple low pressure systems should provide enough “lift” in the atmosphere to continue to produce heavy rainfall with rain rates of 2+ inches per hour. Given the already very well-saturated grounds, this additional rainfall can lead to some serious localized flash flooding conditions. With limited wind flow in the lower atmosphere, any shower or thunderstorm that develops in this pattern will be slow-moving and potentially resulting in a few inches of rain over a relatively short period of time.
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The overall weather pattern will remain quite unsettled in the Mid-Atlantic region over the next several days with the threat for more torrential downpours with rates of 2+ inches per hour and flash flooding conditions. The combination of an extremely humid air mass, a stalled out frontal boundary zone, and multiple low pressure systems should be able to provide enough “lift” in the atmosphere to result in heavy rainfall in coming days and given the already well-saturated grounds, this can lead to some serious flash flooding. In fact, there were torrential downpours in the pre-dawn hours across northern Virginia that resulted in damage to roadways in places like Manassas Park and the entire DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor remains under “flash flood watches” as a result of the potential for more heavy rainfall and saturated grounds.
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The good news is that “Isaias” is accelerating to the northeast and the wild weather should wind down later this afternoon in much of the Mid-Atlantic region. In fact, the sun could actually return in portions of the Mid-Atlantic region later today. The bad news is that there is another several hours to get through before we get to that point with some pretty rough weather including more flooding rainfall, powerful and potentially damaging wind gusts, numerous power outages and isolated tornadoes. By later tonight, “Isaias” will race across interior New England on its way to southeastern Canada and the weather in the Mid-Atlantic region will improve markedly overnight and on Wednesday.
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“Isaias” stayed off the east coast of Florida on Sunday as it pushed slowly to the northwest while maintaining strong tropical storm status. The center of “Isaias” is now moving due north and has reached the latitude of the Georgia/Florida border region. “Isaias” should begin a gradual turn to the northeast later today and will likely make landfall tonight in the Carolinas - perhaps in the border region of South and North Carolina. There is a chance that “Isaias” re-gains category one hurricane status before it makes landfall as it continues to push over some very warm waters of the Gulf Stream and encounters less wind shear.
After that, “Isaias” will move northeast along the Mid-Atlantic’s I-95 corridor and become a major rain and wind producer in the DC, Philly and New York City metro regions on Tuesday and Tuesday night. There is the potential for several inches of rain in these areas along with strong sustained winds and potentially damaging wind gusts, isolated tornadoes, and flash flooding. Numerous power outages are on the table in the Mid-Atlantic region during this upcoming event. “Isaias” will pick up speed as it pushes to the north/northeast over the next 24-48 hours reaching the interior sections of northern New England by early Wednesday.
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“Isaias” weakened slightly yesterday into “tropical storm” status and it remains so early Sunday morning despite a burst of deep convection in the overnight hours. That burst of thunderstorm activity has not resulted in any significant improvement in the overall structure of “Isaias” which is currently about 40 miles southeast of West Palm Beach, FL and it is not outside the realm of possibility that it regains enough strength later today to reach weak hurricane status. Nonetheless, “Isaias” will ride up to fairly close to the east-central coastline of Florida with some heavy rainfall and strong winds to last about 12 hours or so once they begin later this morning. On Monday, “Isaias” will begin to take a turn to the north and then northeast and likely make landfall somewhere in the Carolinas - perhaps as a hurricane. After that, “Isaias” will continue to ride up along the east coast and generate a major rain and wind event for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US - ultimately resulting in impact extending all the from Florida to Maine.
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“Isaias” became the second hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic Basin tropical season in the overnight hours as it pulled away from the island of Hispaniola and out over the very warm waters of the southwest Atlantic Ocean. The 2020 Atlantic Basin tropical season has gotten off to a very active start - now with nine named systems – and it will very likely remain quite dynamic as we begin the month of August. In fact, a couple other tropical waves are now churning over the eastern and central tropical Atlantic - virtually guaranteeing the energetic season will continue in coming days. Hurricane “Isaias” is likely to continue on a NW track over the next 24-36 hours that will bring to a position just off the east coast of Florida this weekend with significant impacts to the Bahama Islands and southern/eastern Florida. “Isaias” is now classified as a category 1 hurricane and there is a chance it intensifies to a category 2 storm before it makes its closest approach to Florida’s east coast. After that, “Isaias” may very well ride up along the east coast ultimately resulting in a significant rain event all the way from Florida to eastern New England.
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The 2020 Atlantic Basin tropical season has gotten off to a very active start now with nine named storms - the newest one being “Isaias”. Tropical Storm “Isaias” has been pounding away at Puerto Rico since last night with torrential rainfall and is now interacting with the island of Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic). This particular island has mountainous terrain with peaks of over 10,000 feet and it is likely to limit the intensification of “Isaias” – at least in the short-term. In addition, an interaction with this northern Caribbean island frequently causes a “re-positioning” of the low-level circulation center of a given tropical cyclone so we’ll look for that to take place over the next 12-24 hours. After that, Tropical Storm “Isasis” is likely to significantly impact the Bahama Islands - perhaps as a hurricane - and likely take a track over or just off the east coast of Florida with substantial rainfall and strong winds on the table. There is a chance that the moisture field of the tropical storm then rides up along the southeast US coastline to the Carolinas - and potentially as far north as the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US.
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The 2020 Atlantic Basin tropical season has gotten off to an active start with eight named storms already and another wave that has reached the Caribbean Sea is quite likely to become the ninth (“Isaias”). This latest tropical wave pushed off the west coast of Africa late last week and had somewhat limited intensification possibilities over the past few days as it battled with dry air in the central Atlantic that originated over the Sahara Desert region of northern Africa. As such, the tropical wave appeared rather elongated and disorganized yesterday morning, but has since “escaped” the dry air mass and is now becoming better organized. There is a good chance that this system will reach tropical storm status in the next 24 hours and continue on a west-to-northwest track which will result in an impact on the northern Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and Cuba as well as the Bahamas.
After that, the tropical system may very well impact Florida by later Saturday, but its intensification prospects beforehand may be somewhat limited due to its possible interaction with these islands and a possible increase in southwesterly wind shear. By early next week, the tropical system could begin to take a more northerly track as it interacts with an unusually strong upper-level trough that will be “digging” into the south-central US and slowing down in its eastward progression. As a result, its moisture field could very well ride northward along the east coast in the early part of next week - potentially resulting in a significant rain event all the way from Florida to the Northeast US.
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